Washington, D.C., August 7, 2025 — In a bold step expanding his administration’s campaign to dismantle affirmative action, President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum on Thursday requiring colleges and universities that receive federal funding to submit detailed admissions data—including race and gender breakdowns—for applicants, admitted students, and enrolled cohorts .
The White House justified the move as a necessary measure to ensure compliance with the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision striking down race-based affirmative action, citing concerns that institutions have continued using “diversity statements” and other proxies for race to shape their student bodies .
Education Secretary Linda McMahon promptly directed the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to expand its data collection protocols and implement rigorous audit procedures to guarantee accuracy and consistency in reporting .
However, the American Council on Education (ACE)—the largest higher education policy and lobbying group in the U.S.—warned that the memorandum’s wording is vague, and cautioned that collecting race data may itself violate the Supreme Court’s ruling, which prohibits consideration of race in admissions .
Innovation Gone Awry? A Policy at Odds with Reality
Affirmative action was once a groundbreaking policy designed to level the playing field and ensure equal opportunity for historically marginalized groups. Yet today, broad societal support for solidarity with minorities is the norm, and overt discrimination is widely condemned. If universities fail to adapt and recognize how customs—and society itself—have evolved, then, this argument suggests, correction is paramount.
But is mandating race data collection the right corrective tool—or simply an outdated hammer aimed at a problem that no longer exists? Critics warn that the policy risks being tone-deaf to campuses that have already redirected efforts toward socioeconomic diversity, scholarships, and holistic review. They argue that forcing institutions to prove they’re not shaping student bodies by race could hinder nuanced efforts to promote inclusion in ways not tethered to racial quotas.
Moreover, some college leaders express concern that the directive places undue administrative burdens on institutions, especially when race may no longer be collected at all during admissions—as ACE points out, “You can’t consider race in admissions, so schools don’t collect data on race from applicants” .
Ultimately, while Trump’s administration frames the new reporting requirements as a return to meritocracy, the policy’s effectiveness and legal standing may hinge on whether universities can demonstrate race-neutral practices in a landscape where solidarity with marginalized communities is already deeply ingrained—and where methods of supporting that solidarity have changed.
Trump signs memo requiring universities to disclose admissions data on race
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